Tuesday, January 31, 2017

In January I got 442 km riding the bicycle. This morning there was black ice on a downhill slope, and I slid for some distance, but stayed upright. Once again the studded winter tires proved their worth.

The baby-carrot fingers (controlled by Bannon) are again and again proving disastrous. How long can this continue? On the other hand, a lot of great people are showing their worth by the skill and will to #resist.

Sunday, January 29, 2017

This week I got over 13 hours of exercise. Snow is disappearing, it doesn't feel quite like winter.

These days one gets scared when reading the news, which are full of hateful and unlawful things. It seems that whatever the baby-carrot fingers touch turns into evil. And that he is playing in the same team as the terrorists. Fermenting trouble is the name of the game. And the culprit to blame - as well those who suffer - is always someone else.

Saturday, January 28, 2017

In six days I have got 11 1/2 hours of exercise, of which 8 hours riding the bicycle. Today I walked for two hours, circling around lake Kattilajärvi in Nuuksio. The paths were icy and slippery, and it started to rain. Snow is melting away.

I'm a bit afraid to check what has been happening with the world during the walk.

(Posting title is from the song Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves by Eurythmics.)

Friday, January 27, 2017

Thomas Wilhelmsson, Chancellor of the University of Helsinki, wrote on Twitter: ”US and UK researchers, welcome to Finland! Finnish people still believe in science and real facts”.

Welcome to Finland – WTF for short – sounds rather good.

I can’t believe what is happening in the US, which has become a dictatorship with an easily lead narcissist as the frontispiece for unscrupulous fraudsters and all kinds of evilness. Science – including humanities, liberal arts, etc. – is no longer open or to be relied on because of political control, and access to information is being drastically curtailed.

The blindness to facts (and preferring “alternative facts” and putting forward the big lie) will lead to suffering and dying people. All this will be blamed on “the other”, as it is impossible for a narcissist to acknowledge that he is to blame. And thus there is need to hide the real facts, such things as global warming, unemployment statistics, public health, etc. Otherwise people would see the emperor having no clothes (and tiny hands).

What will happen unless plenty of people #resist?

Here are some scenarios: Collapse of the educational system. Shipwreck of research institutions. Large-scale economic misery and unemployment, except for some of the wealthiest robber barons and baronesses. Extreme weather destroying property and killing people. Bankruptcy of health care, and manifestation of diseases that had almost been vanquished.

What can be done? The Women's March which was organized on January 21, 2017, showed the way. One needs to #resist, and it helps to have plenty of humour on the way.

And coming back to WTF. We do have problems here in Finland as well, including some populistic politicians who are doing hateful and unlawful things and fermenting trouble. Still, I trust in the sanity of the Finnish people.

(Posting title is from the poem Husky Boys' Dickies by Jill McDonough.)

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Today was the coldest day this week, -6 °C in the morning and -4 °C in the afternoon. Tomorrow it will be warmer, and the weather forecast promises some rain. Thus, roads will be wet and slippery in places where there is snow and ice. But the studded winter tires have kept me safe while commuting by bicycle.

Friday, January 20, 2017

I have got 272 km riding the bicycle this year. Last year I got over 6,500 km of riding, which now feels quite a feat, perhaps because in winter riding the bicycle is much heavier and slower than during summer.

But at least the days are getting longer. This morning I saw a little bit lighter sky in the east while commuting by bicycle, even though it was over an hour before sunrise.

(Posting title is from the song Springtime for Twittler by Irwin Collier.)

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

The photographs were taken on December 29th at Helsinki Olympic Stadium.

The length of day is now over an hour longer that it was at the shortest, and it is getting 1/2 hour longer each week. But what is not so good is the temperature, which is once again above 0 °C, which means that the streets are wet and muddy.

About Me

Juha Haataja works with information techology to support education, research, and culture. His hobbies include photography, literature, and outdoor activities. He lives in the capital region of Finland.